HOUSE and SENATE

The House and Senate are in recess the week of May 28.

The House Appropriations Committee approved the spending levels for each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees, referred to as 302(b) allocations, for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. The House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee (LHHS) was allotted $177.1 billion for spending, the same amount as in FY2018.

The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved its subcommittee 302(b) allocations with the LHHS Subcommittee receiving $179.2 billion in funding, a $2.1 billion increase over FY2018 and the House’s LHHS FY2019 funding.

The Senate reached an agreement by unanimous consent to debate and vote on the nomination of Kenneth Marcus to be the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. A floor schedule for this debate has not yet been announced.

The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Appropriations will accept written testimony from outside witnesses on fiscal year (FY) 2019 appropriations. The deadline to submit written testimony is Friday, June 1.

ADMINISTRATION

U.S. Department of Education (ED) is proposing to delay State Authorization for distance education and foreign location regulations until 2020. ED has waived negotiated rulemaking on this delay, and it is open to a 15-day comment period. The existing rule is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

ED announced a process for borrowers who were primarily denied participation in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program due to enrollment in non-eligible repayment plans to seek relief. This process is pursuant to the $350 million Congress provided earlier this year for this purpose.

ED, in a court filing, stated it would transition from reliance on existing private collection agencies for collections on defaulted student loans to companies that would primarily focus on pre-default services for struggling borrowers.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES 

Penn Hill Group provides a list of grant opportunities and summaries for select grants. Please visit our website for more information